Instrument panels or dashboards for motor vehicles, such as automobiles, generally include modules integrated together and installed as a single unit into a forward portion of a vehicle passenger cabin. The “center stack” region of the instrument panel supports various controls and interior features. Conventional center stacks may include sound system controls, climate controls for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and vents or outlets that exhaust air supplied from the vehicle's HVAC system, among other controls and features. Components, such as the sound system, are mounted in the center stack proximate to the controls. The center stack is closed out with a front plate or trim bezel having a front side with Class A surfaces suitable for a vehicle interior that are visible to occupants of the passenger cabin.
Because stacking space is limited, integrated center stacks represent an evolution in center stack technology in which the actual components, like the sound system and the HVAC electronics, are not supported by the center stack. Instead, the components are mounted remote from the center stack at other locations inside the vehicle. The controls for the components remain associated with the center stack and are accessible to the occupants seated in the front of the passenger cabin. The controls are connected with the actual components by a flex cable, flat wire, or transmitted radio frequency signals to increase the stacking space. The individual controls may include circuit boards mounted to the center stack. Integrated center stacks, which are also conventional, are more compact than earlier generation conventional center stacks that provided support for the components themselves. Integrated center stacks are also closed out with a front plate or trim bezel having a Class A surface visible to occupants of the passenger cabin.
Front plates are typically single-piece constructions that may include outlets for the HVAC system defined in the front plate. Different or contrasting finishes may be applied to different visible surfaces or regions of the front plate. For example, one region on the front plate may be painted and an adjacent region on the front plate may have a wood grain finish from, for example, a laminate. If different or contrasting finishes are applied on different regions of the front plate, a transition zone or paint ditch is required along the boundary across which the finish changes. Alternatively, separate bezels may be positioned to cover the regions with contrasting finish to achieve a suitable finish transition.
It would be desirable to provide an improved center stack that permits the visible surface finish on the center stack to differ or contrast between different regions without the use of a paint ditch or another expensive feature.